FR Doc 03-21343
[Federal Register: August 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 161)]
[Notices]
[Page 50181-50182]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20au03-80]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: American Museum of Natural
History, New York, NY
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects in the possession of the American Museum of Natural History,
New York, NY. The human remains and associated funerary objects were
removed from an undesignated ruined pueblo in Cibola or McKinley
Counties, NM.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. (d)(3). The
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this
notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary
objects was made by American Museum of Natural History professional
staff in consultation with representatives of the Zuni Tribe of the
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
In 1900, human remains representing a minimum of 17 individuals
were removed by Dr. Ale[scaron] Hrdli[ccaron]ka from an undesignated
ruined pueblo 9 miles southwest of Zuni pueblo, NM. No known
individuals were identified. The two associated funerary objects are a
Pinedale black-on-white ceramic bowl and a Heshota utla polychrome
ceramic pitcher. The undesignated ruined pueblo site from which the
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed is believed
to be on the Zuni Indian Reservation.
Pinedale black-on-white and Heshota utla polychrome ceramics were
produced during the Pueblo III and Pueblo IV periods, roughly between
A.D. 1250 and A.D. 1450. The human remains probably were interred
during that period. The human remains have been identified as Native
American based on geographic and documentary evidence. The human
remains were found in the pre- and postcontact territory of the Zuni
people. Although there was some migration into this area between A.D.
1175 and the Coronado entrada in A.D. 1540, the continuity of a core
architectural and ceramic tradition during the time period in which
these human remains were interred suggests an ethnic continuity in the
area. Zuni oral history provides further evidence for the existence of
a shared group identity between the past population represented by
these human remains and associated funerary objects and the present-day
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Although the lands from which the human remains were removed are
currently under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the American Museum of Natural
History has possession and control of the human remains and associated
funerary objects because their removal from tribal land predates the
permit requirements established by the Antiquities Act of 1906.
Officials of the American Museum of Natural History have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains listed above
represent the physical remains of 17 individuals of Native American
ancestry. Officials of the American Museum of Natural History also have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the two objects
listed above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or
[[Page 50182]]
near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of
the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of the American Museum of
Natural History have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2),
there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably
traced between the Native American human remains and associated
funerary objects and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Luc Litwinionek, Director of Cultural Resources,
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street,
New York, NY 10024-5192, telephone (212) 769-5846, before September 19,
2003. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
to the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The American Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying
the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has
been published.
Dated: July 24, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-21343 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
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